Category: Productivity

Microwave’s are great things. Now here are some interesting ideas to get even more out of that little science box in your kitchen – from MakeUseOf:

You Won’t Believe The Things You Can Do With A Microwave

A microwave is great for certain kinds of foods. For example, when you want to make some frozen pizza rolls, a microwave will do the job very well.But what if you want to make scrambled eggs? A microwave couldn’t possibly do that. You can’t use a microwave to make garlic easy to peel. right? Wrong, your microwave can do all that and more!

Don’t ya hate that when you spill something, or find a stain on something valuable? From Lifehacker we can

Find the Solution to Any Stain with This Searchable Database

(click the graphic above to go to the searchable site)

Nobody likes a big ugly stain on their carpet or clothing. This searchable database has stain solutions for everything from automotive oil to mustard.

The database comes from the University of Illinois and covers carpets, upholstery, and washable fabrics. You can browse their stain solutions from A to Z, or narrow things down with a quick search. The database covers common stains like berries and wine, but also covers uncommon stains like ashes, chalk, cough syrup, soy sauce, and maple syrup. Bookmark the database at the link below and always be prepared for any stain.

Good to know! We freeze a lot of things to reduce waste (empty nesters here), but I will look at these tips before refreezing! Great tips from Kitchn:

5 Foods You Should Never Refreeze

TIPS FROM THE KITCHN

Freezing food is a great way to have meals on the go and food stashed away to avoid last minute trips to the grocery store or ordering delivery. It also helps us not to waste food and is, in a sense, an extension of our pantry.

But we’ve all been there. We rifled through our freezer and pulled out a few things to thaw in the fridge and promptly forgot about them. Can you put it back in the freezer? Here’s a list of five things that you should avoid giving a refreeze and why refreezing in general is a big no-no.

What Happens When You Freeze

Freezing anything ruptures some of the cell walls in the product at hand. It’s why frozen food doesn’t taste quite as good as fresh and why oftentimes frozen foods aren’t as expensive as their fresh counterparts, especially meat and seafood.

What Happens When You Refreeze

When you freeze, thaw and refreeze an item, the second thaw will break down even more cells, leaching out moisture and deliciousness and changing the integrity of the product.

The other enemy is bacteria. Frozen and thawed food will develop harmful bacteria faster than fresh. It’s not something you can see, so it’s easy to brush off, but the threat is real. Once the ice crystals from your food are gone, your food starts the clock on developing these nasty buggers.

Freezing and thawing of foods is a big safety concern and there are legal restrictions for the restaurant and grocery industries to help keep us all safe. Applying these same philosophies in our own home will ensure the same!

How to Handle Thawed Food

Your best bet will always be to cook or utilize what you thawed and if needed, refreeze the cooked product. That said, there’s not always time to cook it, so if you’re in a hurry and debating whether or not to throw it back in the freezer, keep in mind these five things that should never, ever be refrozen!

1. Raw Proteins

This includes meats, poultry and seafood. If they were thawed in a chilled environment that’s less than 42 degrees (like your refrigerator), then it’s safe to refreeze. But if they thawed on the counter or have an off color or smell, they’re done!

Don’t forget that a lot of seafood, especially shrimp, arrive at the grocery store frozen but are defrosted to be put into the display case. They’ve already gone through a first freeze, so don’t put them in your home freezer for a second freeze!

2. Ice Cream

If you left it out on the counter so that it was easier to scoop and then forgot to put it back in the freezer quickly, just drink it as a milkshake and call it a day folks. Refrozen ice cream will have a weird, icy texture.

3. Juice Concentrates

Fermentation occurs quicker than you think in fruit-based products, so don’t forget that this goes for blended smoothies too.

4. Combination Meals

Eat up your casseroles, pot pies, stews, pastas, and the like or bring it for lunch so that it doesn’t go to waste. After all, it’s cooked and ready to go so it’s the easiest kind of homemade meal to have!

5. Cooked Proteins

Freezing leftover roasted or rotisserie chicken is a great idea, but then you pulled it out for salads a few weeks later and forgot about it in your fridge. Call some friends over and put the chicken on nachos ASAP, because it shouldn’t be refrozen!

Don’t forget that there are also some foods that you should never freeze in the first place! Check out that list before you stock up at end-of-season farmers markets!

This is a cool app and website. It tells you the options of getting from one place to another. From Wayfayer:

Rome2rio Shows All Your Transportation Options Between Two Locations

Web/iOS: If you aren’t sure how to get between your home and your next travel spot, Rome2rio can help. It’ll show you different transportation options, travel times, and price estimates.

Simply input your departure and destination info, and Rome2rio displays all of your travel options. It also lists attractions nearby your destination and suggests hotels, too. Rome2rio offers both a web site and an iOS app. Give it a try yourself via the link below.

Take a Stand: The Effects of Sitting at Work

How much of your workday is spent sitting down? For the average American, over 9 hours are spent sitting down, wreaking havoc on your lower back, your weight, your heart health, and a number of other health factors that are directly related to mortality rates.

Take a stand and make a change! Include five-minute long standing breaks every hour for more energy and a more focused mind.

10. Foods That Keep You Full and Prevent an Energy Crash

This chart graphs foods based on how full they make you and whether or not they give you a sugar high (and subsequent sugar crash). Post it on your fridge to remind you to reach for oranges or apples instead of bananas, eggs instead of cereal.

9. How to Cook Anything on the Grill

It’s always grilling season, isn’t it? Keep this chart handy by your grill to get the timing right for meats and veggies. They’re approximate times and temperatures, but that’s still a whole lot better than just winging it.

8. Pick the Most Nutritious Produce

Not all fruits and vegetables are the same, if you’re looking to improve a certain area of health. This colorful chart highlights the nutritional qualities of different vegetables at a glance, so while you’re planning your weekly meals or shopping in the store, you can choose wisely. (Eat the rainbow!)

7. Put an End to Wasted Food

Spoiled food is a terrible waste—of our money and, obviously, fresh food. Without guides like these, though, it’s hard to know how long foods will last before you have to throw them out. The chart identifies the “prime” storage time for various foods, on the counter, in the fridge, or in the freezer.

6. How to Eat the Rainbow

Many of us aren’t eating enough of different produce to reap their benefits. This graphic offers suggestions for getting your fill of each color, the benefits you can expect from doing so, and other miscellaneous facts like sneaking more “greens” in your diet with green tea.

4. Know How to Substitute Common Cooking Ingredients

No matter how well you think you’ve stocked your pantry, though, there’s a chance you’re working with a recipe that calls for something you just don’t have on hand. I mean, who has an endless supply of fresh buttermilk in their fridge? This graphicoffers substitutions for common and uncommon ingredients.

3. Know What You Can Turn into Compost

You’ve got kitchen/household scraps. Can you turn them into gardening gold instead of garbage? Instead of tossing food out, check out this graphic which highlights the many trash-headed items that could be used instead to improve your garden—even dryer lint, hair/fur, or fireplace ashes.

2. Learn How to Use Your Knife

Perhaps the most important tool in your kitchen, the knife is one instrument you’ll want to master. This graphic highlights the differences between different knives, the different kinds of cuts you might want to use, and more knife-y tips.